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Lafayette shooter had wigs in his hotel room, switched license plates on car

John Houser, who shot up a theater in Louisiana, had an elaborate getaway plan in attempt to escape after 11 people were shot, police say.

John Houser, the man accused of shooting 11 people at a movie theater in Louisiana, had apparently switched his car’s license plate and had wigs in his hotel room that he presumably intended to use as a disguise in order to get away after the fact.

Houser opened fire with a 10-round clip in a Lafayette theater that was showing the movie “Trainwreck.” Two women died in the attack and nine other people were injured before Houser killed himself with the gun, police said according to a CNN report.

Gov. Bobby Jindal said the attack was “slow and methodical” rather than a wild spray of bullets.

The 59-year-old departed the theater out a side door and walked toward a 1995 Lincoln, apparently attempting to put his getaway plan in place. But then he saw a police cruiser approaching, prompting him to reload his gun, walk back into the theater, fire off three more rounds, and then turn the gun on himself. A total of 20 rounds were fired, which struck 11 people, not including the gunman. One individual had been hit four times.

Four of the people who were wounded have since been released, and four of the five still in the hospital are in stable condition. One of them is in critical condition.

Houser used a .40-caliber semiautomatic pistol that was purchased legally in Alabama. Houser didn’t have any convictions of serious crimes, so there was no reason to deny him the gun, according to the report.

What’s still unknown is exactly why he shot up the theater or even why he was in Lafayette at all, since it is about 500 miles from where he lives in Georgia and Alabama. His last known connection to the city of Lafayette was an uncle who died 35 years ago.